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Category: Secret Music

Too much work, school holidays, home building work going on, don’t think I’m going to get time to do a proper Secret Music for August. But it would be remiss of me if I didn’t draw your attention at least to the return of the Multi-Story Orchestra to Peckham Car Park on 7 and 8 August for performances of Louis Andriessen’s De Staat.

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It gives me great pleasure to welcome Michael Baldwin as the Rambler’s first ever guest poster. Michael is an American artist currently living in Huddersfield, who works around the medium of sound, specifically in contemporary concert-hall music performance contexts. In his words, he is ‘primarily invested in examining the margins of musical performance practice through foregrounding non-sonic aspects of performance, with an emphasis on physical mannerisms/movement and conditions of body-instrument transaction.’ I’m always interested in margins, as well as matters of musical performance and transmedial coding of information, so I was very happy when Michael offered to write a post for the Contemporary Notation Project explaining his use of video as a notational practice.

If you are a composer with an interesting or unusual notational practice, and you would like to contribute a short post on your work, please get in touch.

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As a contribution to this series I offer a recent trio of mine, this is not natural,for double bass, piano and horn. In line with my interest in ‘physical mannerisms/movements and conditions of body-instrument transaction’, a live performance of this is not natural lays bare a rate-of-movement relationship between musicians’ bodies and their musical instruments.

The observer of this is not natural is presented with the original raw material of the piece in the first 15 seconds – material that for the remainder of the piece is subjected to temporal, technological and compositional applications of transformation. From these first 15 seconds, the parameter of performance I am most interested in is movement – in particular, musical-instrument influenced physical movement.[1] This parameter, its transformation and, in turn, the remainder of the piece, brings me to the heart of my contribution here.

this is not natural works with video-graphic notation where the production process is important and sequential.

Production process:

Initial collaboration with musicians

Determination of what physical and sonic elements are deployable at different rates of movement

Original 15-second choreography taught to trio

A variant version of original choreography taught to trio and video-recorded

Only two differences between original choreography and variant version:

Performers instructed to direct their line of vision away from each other towards a personal laptop screen

Performers physically provoked by a sonic stimulus resulting in disengagement of line-of-vision focus and an attendant facial expression resembling shock

Variant version video-recorded from different perspectives and edited to show most important angle for a performer at a given time.

Three videos made, with one for each performer

Each edited video-recording treated as an object subject to technological alteration through time-stretching

Here are the scores for horn and double bass. Blue shading in the horn part is indicative of action taking place in or around the mouth.

In performance, the musicians enact the original 15 seconds of raw material from memory and subsequently turn their gaze towards their laptop screen where they continue by performing from their video-score for the remainder of the piece. What the observer is presented with then is in many ways an ambiguous repetition. The repetition is ambiguous in that it at times appears to be a direct repetition of the source material, and at other times either seems to be, or is, a clear departure from the first 15 seconds of material. My own experience of the piece, on a structural level, is one of constantly flickering back and forth in my mind between two modalities of performance-observation (looking and listening) relative to the original presentation of performance and the transformed version of performance, scanning for similarities and differences as they fit within the expectations setup by the initial 15-second framing of material.

Video-scores here are a mixture of descriptive and prescriptive notation that temporally (without recourse to presentation of past or future actions) delineate how a performer moves through space. Performers are confronted with slow-motion video of themselves, which they are instructed to mirror as accurately as possible, effectively embodying technologically distorted versions of themselves.[3] Importantly, this embodiment is only possible through a constant mediation between the performers’ kinesthetic knowledge of how these slow-motion movements feel in real-time (or learned-time). Performers are not simply miming their temporally stretched selves located in the video-scores. Instead, they are always reading – always in dialogue with how they know to move, how they are being shown to move, and how they remember moving.[4]

In my estimation, the presentation of the video-score (and the attendant presence of laptops to display the scores) draws considerable attention in the performers’ minds to body-instrument movement, and attention from the audience towards how musicians move and how they are directed to move – in this case through what can, at times, seem an eerie (or at least distance-inducing) technological means. By shifting the focus towards the arenas of musical movement and human-score interfaces, a resultant affect of ‘making the familiar strange’ (a well-trod artistic device) is manifest. This affect has marked repercussions on not only the atmosphere of the concert-hall, but also casts performative shadows on the pieces before and after.[5] As I perceive it, the piece invites the observer to reassess both retroactively and prospectively the conditions of performance. In other words, the piece and its affect(s) palpably extend well beyond the frame of the piece and begin to seep into an audience’s perception of the surrounding performance context.

this is not natural marks my first exploration into using video-scores as a notational medium, and will likely be a mode of performance-information dissemination in future pieces. Other pieces of mine have used alternative scores/notations such as audio-scores, picture-scores and mimetic/human-scores. For readers interested in these pieces, more information can be found throughout my website.

Notes

[1] Bodily movements informed by transactions and mediations between musicians and their instrument(s) of performance.

[2] One will notice that the degree of temporal stretch is not constant throughout. There are portions that have been warped faster or slower (with the end coming to a complete stand-still). These alterations of temporal stretching are a result of both practical (physically possible) and aesthetic/compositional considerations.

[4] Although the notation is focused primarily on movement, it is worth noting there are parameters of movement that are not fully accounted for in the video-scores presented here, the most significant of which is amount of force to be applied across the space of movement. In this regard, my video-scores are an incomplete medium towards instructing performance, cannot be engaged on its own (without, I’d argue, faulty extrapolation), and is dependent on the embodied kinesthetic knowledge described above.

[5] Here I am thinking of Michael Chekhov’s notions of atmospheres. Chekhov describes groups of people and the places people occupy (spaces) as having objective atmospheres and that no two distinct atmospheres can co-exist long before one either takes over as dominant or the disparate atmospheres synthesize into one. I would identify three basic elements within a concert-hall setting: the hall itself, the audience (with their cultural and experiential background), and the event/performance staged. What I’d like to propose here is that the atmosphere exuded by this is not natural has the effect of silencing the audience’s and concert-hall’s emanating atmospheric energies, drawing an observer further into the piece’s inner logic and bringing under careful consideration both the spectacle of the event and the sonic byproducts of said spectacle. See Michael Chekhov, To the Actor (Routledge, 2002): 47-62.

The 10th season of Music We’d Like to Hear gets underway, with new support from Sound and Music (as co-producers) and as always a lush programme of three concerts on three Fridays curated by three composers. First up is Tim Parkinson’s concert, Drums and Piano: pieces by Matteo Fargion, Jonathan Marmor (whose Cattle in the Woods was a memorable feature of last year’s programme), Makiko Nishikaze, Chiyoko Szlavnics, Kunsu Shim and Christian Wolff, played by Adam Morris (percussion) and Parkinson (piano).

More Martland: York’s Late Music Ensemble (specially formed for the occasion) will perform a tribute concert to the late composer, who died last May featuring performances of his Reveille, Remembering Lennon and Kick, as well as pieces by Louis Andriessen, Jeremy Dale Roberts, Roger Marsh and James Whittle.

Cheltenham again, for the premiere of Nicola LeFanu’s new multi-media chamber opera Tokaido Road, set in 19th-century Japan and following the story of the artist Hiroshige. Created and commissioned by Okeanos, with a libretto by Nancy Gaffield.

Second instalment of Music We’d Like to Hear, curated by Markus Trunk. Pieces for string quartet by Joanna Bailie, Carola Bauckholt, Matteo Fargion, Jo Kondo and Luiz Henrique Yudo (another highlight from last year). All played by the Ligeti Quartet.

Apartment House give the UK premiere of Harley Gaber’s legendary The Winds Rise in the North (1973–4) for amplified string quintet, described by Keith Fullerton Whitman as ‘one of the holy grails of early minimalism’.

Third instalment of Music We’d Like to Hear, curated by John Lely. Music for viols and objects by Antoine Beuger, William Lawes, Alvin Lucier, Taylan Susam and Christian Wolff. Played by Phantasm and the MWLTH ensemble.

Neil Luck and Adam de la Cour will be performing their duo-version of Kurt Schwitters’ classic Ursonate. Expect two men, ACME duck calls and 6ft of plastic tubing. Zubin Kanga will be performing Z/K, written for him by Michael Finnissy, and there will also be Berio, Xenakis, James Saunders and some live black MIDI. Like the blurb says, schwittloads of notes.

Ian Pace performs Goldsmiths student compositions alongside British premieres of music by Walter Zimmerman, Rebecca Saunders and Alistair Zaldua, the European premiere of some very old Ferneyhough, and more. Full programme:

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Big month this one. A lot going on at the University of Leeds in the first half of the month, including their annual contemporary music weekend, from the 9th to the 11th. On the same weekend: Glasgow’s Tectonics Festival. Plus loads elsewhere too. Now updated with details of Sounds New.

Argh, how did I miss including Sounds New the first time I posted? Canterbury’s new music festival is always interesting, and this year is no exception. The full week’s programme can be viewed here, but among the highlights that caught by eye are a new piece by Janek Schaefer; a concert by the London Sinfonietta of music by Cardew, Rzewski and Andriessen, and Johannes Kreidler’s Fremdarbeit (the first of at least two outings for this piece in the UK this summer); Sam Bailey doing a Ross Bolleter on a woodland piano; Lauren Redhead playing music for organ and electronics; and a Migro Records portrait.

New music group Dark Inventions will be touring their show of music by Stef Connor, Benjamin Gait, Patrick John Jones, Christopher Leedham, Martin Scheuregger and Philip Cashian to Manchester, York, Leeds, Newcastle and Liverpool. See website for full details.

The BBC Scottish SO’s Tectonics Festival returns after its acclaimed first year. See the festival website for full details, but highlights include world premieres by John Oswald, Georg Friedrich Haas, James Weeks, Michael Finnissy, Klaus Lang and Sarah Kenchington, plus performances by EXAUDI, Christian Wolff and Thurston Moore.

The percussion ensembles of the Musikhochschule Freiburg (Germany) and the University of Leeds present a works inspired by diverse natural elements, culminating in Iannis Xenakis’ seminal percussion sextet, Pleiades.

Birmingham Conservatoire’s annual contemporary music festival this year celebrates the music of Downtown New York. This was originally planned to coincide with the presence of Robert Ashley to receive an honorary doctorate, an event that will sadly not now take place. Ashley’s music is well represented, however, including the complete world premiere of String Quartet Describing the Motion of Real Bodies on 2 April. Other highlights (of many – see the full calendar) include Apartment House playing Songs for Drella (30 March); Pauline Oliveros in conversation (31 March) and a Deep Listening meditation (2 April); early Philip Glass (1 April); Carl Stone (2 April); as well as music by David Lang, Michael Gordon, William Basinski, Elliot Sharp …

James Weeks conducts the Guildhall New Music Ensemble in a programme that includes premieres of works by Edmund Finnis and Thomas Fournil, and music by Aldo Clementi and Salvatore Sciarrino.

“The Guildhall New Music Ensemble is dedicated to the performance of music from the last 30 years, with each project curated by a different member of staff or by a guest curator. For the launch of the ensemble’s regular performance series at the School, Associate Head of Composition James Weeks has curated a programme of local and global compositional activity that will form the foundation of the ensemble’s future concerts.”

Performances by Gavin Bryars, Dr. Margaret Coldiron, Carole Finer, Julian Haxby, Chris Hobbs, John Lely, Kaffe Matthews, Tim Parkinson, Michael Parsons, Andrea Rocca, Hugh Shrapnel, Dave Smith, John Tilbury, John White; and by various ensembles, namely: Bad Dog, LelyWhite, Live Batts; and by the official orchestra of the Institute: The London Snorkelling Team.

There will be participatory performances of The Drinking and Hooting Machine and the Newspaper-reading Machine – a more detailed programme will be emailed before the event.

Thai food available from the kitchens. Tickets are free (a hat will be passed around) and open to all, but they are also limited; people must be on the guest-list to attend, and specify if bringing a guest. To get on the list write to: editor@atlaspress.co.uk without delay.

Matthew Schellhorn performs Ian Wilson’s monumental solo piano masterpiece, Stations. Inspired by the Catholic devotion of the Stations of the Cross, Stations is a fourteen-movement work divided into four ‘Books’. Matthew Schellhorn has premiered the work in stages over two years, giving a performance of its final part at Wigmore Hall in 2008. His recording of the piece will be released on Diatribe Records this month, and this concert is the first in a tour that also takes in Glasgow (10 April), Dublin (13 April), Blackheath Halls (14 April), Edinburgh (15 April), Cambridge (16 May), Thorpe Bay (18 May), Wymondham Abbey (29 June) and Ripon (10 July).

Four events: a screening of short films and documentaries around Parmegiani’s work (Thursday); performances of two of his greatest works, Violostries (1964) and La Création du monde (1984) (Friday); works from the early 1970s (Saturday); and Dedans dehors (1977) and Espèces d’éspace (2002) (Sunday). There are other live sets and screenings woven in there too. Full details here.

Birmingham Conservatoire’s annual contemporary music festival this year celebrates the music of Downtown New York. This was originally planned to coincide with the presence of Robert Ashley to receive an honorary doctorate, an event that will sadly not now take place. Ashley’s music is well represented, however, including the complete world premiere of String Quartet Describing the Motion of Real Bodies on 2 April. Other highlights (of many – see the full calendar) include Apartment House playing Songs for Drella (30 March); Pauline Oliveros in conversation (31 March) and a Deep Listening meditation (2 April); early Philip Glass (1 April); Carl Stone (2 April); as well as music by David Lang, Michael Gordon, William Basinski, Elliot Sharp …

More details on this to follow in a separate post, but in essence: nine concerts over four days, plus masterclasses, pre-concert talks and other fun. Composers featured include Rebecca Saunders, Helmuth Oehring, Simon Steen-Andersen and Georg Katzer. Performers include London Sinfonietta, We Spoke, Uroboros and Eva Zöllner. Full programme (pdf) here.